SIR exercise intensifies in Bengal, EC directs to appoint ERO-AERO soon

Digital Desk

With the Election Commission directing immediate appointment of ERO-AERO, the SIR exercise has gained momentum in Bengal, adding to Mamata Banerjee’s tension.

After Bihar, now the Election Commission has not officially announced the start of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal. However, the Election Commission has sent a message to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) office of the state to be ready for this. State CEO Manoj Kumar Agarwal has written a letter to Chief Secretary Manoj Pant regarding the appointment of Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) and Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO).

In the letter, he has requested to take immediate action for the appointment of ERO and AERO. He has requested the Chief Secretary to make appointments on these posts soon. Let us tell you that, Mamata government has already threatened not to allow SIR to be implemented in the state. In such a situation, in the name of protest, TMC's uproar can be seen once again in Bengal in the coming days.

The National Election Commission has repeatedly talked about appointing ERO and AERO assembly wise. Recently, the Central Election Commission has again written a letter to the CEO office. It has ordered to submit an effective report regarding filling up of vacant posts including ERO, AERO.

According to sources in the commission, SIR will be done first in those states where assembly elections are to be held. Assembly elections are to be held in five states in 2026. These include Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Assam and West Bengal. Therefore, there is a strong possibility of Bengal having SIR. In this environment, the CEO has written a letter to the Chief Secretary regarding the appointment of ERO and AERO.

SIR is being opposed in Bihar. Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav are taking out Voter Rights Yatra in Bihar, accusing SIR and vote theft, while Mamata Banerjee has opposed SIR and said that this is to be implemented through the backdoor NRC. Behind this, she has termed the collusion of BJP and Election Commission.

Election Commission sought report from state government
The Election Commission has ordered to submit the report by 5 pm on August 29. It is learned that till now 15 to 16 vacancies are pending for the post of ERO and more than 500 vacancies are pending for the post of AERO. Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal wrote a letter to Chief Secretary Manoj Pant for early appointment to these posts.

After SIR in Bihar, speculation started regarding revision of voter list in Bengal. According to sources in the commission, even if SIR is not started in the whole country, SIR will be started first in five states of the country and Bengal is also included in that list.